This study aimed to investigate the effects of play linked to environmental picture books utilizing robot on environmental sensitivity and creativity of 5-year-old children. For this purpose, 24 5-year-old children in Kindergarten Y (experimental grou...
This study aimed to investigate the effects of play linked to environmental picture books utilizing robot on environmental sensitivity and creativity of 5-year-old children. For this purpose, 24 5-year-old children in Kindergarten Y (experimental group) and 20 5-year-old children in Kindergarten E (comparison group) in Seoul were selected as subjects for the study. The experimental and comparison groups participated in a free play after viewing environmental picture books in a similar classroom environment from November 8 to December 15, 2022. Only the experimental group classroom was provided with T robots that could be used for free play. The collected data were analyzed using an independent sample t-test with SPSS 29.0 statistical program. As a result of the study, First, statistically significant differences were found in young children’s environmental sensitivity and in all sub-factors of environmental sensitivity including, environmental sensitivity, aesthetic sensitivity and emotional stability, and sympathy and compassion. Second, statistically significant differences were found in young children’s creativity and in all sub-factors of creativity including, fluency, flexibility, originality, and imagination. These results suggest a direction for early childhood environmental education focusing on child-led play, based on the value of robots as play materials. This study is significant because it opens up the possibility of play utilizing robot in kindergarten free play.